murray



Jan. 31, 1956 J. J. MURRAY 2,732,704

PUSH BUTTON COMBINATION LOCK Filed Feb. 17, 1953 INVENTOR. JAMES J MURRAY BY Arrrs This invention relatesto a push-button combination mechanism which is more particularly described as applied to a lock orrelease mechanism.

Animportant object of the invention is to provide a lock or release mechanism which may be readily varied and adjusted for operation by different combinations of push buttons. As a lock or release mechanism, it may be readily operated. by anyone familiar with the combina- 'tion for which it is adjusted, but it cannot be quickly and successfully operated by one who is not familiar with the combination.

A further object of the invention is to provide a new and improved mechanismoinv which operation of a number of push buttons are cumulative upon a single movable member.

.A- still further object of the invention is to provide a single operating member which. may be moved successively in one direction bypush-button means operated in apredeterminedsuccession.

Other objects of the invention. will appear in the specification and will be apparent from the accompanying drawings,in which:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of a push-button combination lock or release mechanism in accordance with this invention; and.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged detail of one of the. push-button operatingmembers- Various types of locks have been proposed but usually they are related to a rotary shaft. The present invention provides a radial arm which may be acted upon by any one'of a plurality .of drivers actuated by a push button, and the push buttons may be operatedin any predetermined sequence to produce a desired movement of. the arm to efiecta locking, release, or other operation.

Referring now morev particularly to the drawings, this invention is described as aplied to a release or locking bolt 10. which is movable lengthwise between the-upper and lower guides 12 and 14 but is. limited in at least one direction by the operation of a locking lever 16. This locking lever has a projection 18 at one end in the path of the movable bolt 10 and is. mounted on a fixed pivot 20 to limit the movement. of the bolt in one direction. The locking lever may be drawn to the locking position by a spring 22 which tends to hold the end of the lever opposite the projection 18 against a fixed stop 24. At the outer or free end of the lever 16 is an inclined contact portion 26.

The push-button mechanism comprises an arm 28 mounted at one end upon a fixed pivot 30, and a toothed wheel 32 is. mounted upon the axis of the same pivot and is represented as secured to the arm by a rivet 34 or other suitable fastener so that the. arm will rotate with the toothed wheel. At the outer free end of the arm 28 is an inclined contact piece or extremity 36 which is normally in the path of the contact portion 26 of the lever 16 when the arm 28 is moved about its pivot 30.

Ordinarily, the arm 28. is at a distance from the lock- 7 United, States Patent ing lever 16 and must be moved to a predeterminedand somewhat exact angularpositionin. order to actuatethe lever 16. If moved too far, the contacting extremity 36 will move the lever to its inciin'ed'position as shown by the dotted outline but upon any further upward movement the arm 28' will slip past the locking lever and the locking lever will be returned to it's looking position by its spring 22.

To efiT'ect this exact movement, the arm 28.- is provided with. a'plurality of inclined projections 38, 40, 42, and 44, all shown at the same inclination from the arm, but preterably making an acute angle therewith, but not necessarily at thesame angle. Each arm'has. a toothed rack 46 thereon for engagement by a gear 1a,. 2a, 3a, anda4a, respectively. Each gear is mounted at the end of a corresponding bar 59, and each bar carries. a pawl 48 which engages each gear in, etc; for limiting the movement-of the gear along its rack 46- toone direction. The bar '50 may push the gear against the rack to raise the arm 28, but in. the downward movement of the bar 56, the gear will rotate freely upon its rack 46.

The other end of each operating bar 50 is connectedby a pivot 52 with an arm 54 which extends through a'faee plate 56 and isguided for longitudinal movement only by a. bearing therein, and. the different arms have corresponding push. buttons. 1, 2', 3, and. 4 at the outer ends thereof inv front of the faceplate 56. A coil spring 58 is attached at one end 60 to a fixed position and at the other end 62 to the bar 54 tending. to return the arm 54 and its bar 50 to a predetermined. position after the push button has been pressed.

- Intermediate the ends of each bar 50 is a coil spring 64 connected at one. end 66 to the. bar 5t) and. at. the other end. 68 to a fixed connection which tends to draw the. bar 50 in a clockwise direction about the upper end of the arm 54 to keep its corresponding gear 1a in contact with its rack td. This is to insure engagement. of the gear 1a with the rack 45 at all times, since the movement of the'arrn 28' in the arc of its travel wil move the racks 46 out of the direct paths of the'bars 5t and. correspondingv arms 54 when in their straight positions.

A returning and resetting mechanism is also provided which comprises'a pawl 76 mounted upon a fixed. pivot 72 to engage the toothed wheel 32tending to hold the. wheel and also the arm 28 in its advancing position as shown a by the arrowin Fig. 1. But to allow the reverse movement; connected to the pawl 70 is. an arm 74 having a link 76 pivoted at the outer end of the. arm for moving the pawl accordingly. This link 76 is .pivotedto the outer end of a lever 78 having a fixed pivot 80 at its other end with an intermediate operating rod 82 pivotally mounted on lever 78 extending through the face plate 56 and provided with a push button 5 similar to the. push buttons 1-4. This push-button rod 82 also has a spring 58- tending to return the pawl 70 to an engaging position.

Also connected to the pivot 80 and operated by the lever 78 is an arm 84' pivoted at its outer end to a resetting bar 86 having a number of projections 88, each in a position to engage an abutment'5ti uponthe corresponding bars St). The operation of the resettingbar bymeans of the push button 5 will swing all of the bars 50 and all. of the opera-ting gears to the initial positions in acounterclockwise direction, thus allowing the arm 28 to return to its initial. position upon release of pawl 70 from the toothed wheel 32;

Each of the push-button assemblies is, in effect, a driver for operating the arm a different amount. The resultant degrees or part of a degree of traverse of the arm 28 dependsentirely upon the actuation. and the sequence of actuation of the push buttons. As these driversv are-dc endent upon and their movement is'effected byt-the: actuation of the corresponding push button for their subsequent position upon their track, it follows that this subsequent position will alter the point of action along the arm 28 for the next or sequential operation of the same or another push button. This is equivalent to a change of radius of the arm with respect to the driver.

It is evident that the choice of drivers initially and subsequently in sequence wil cause a certain traverse of the outer end of the arm 28 for that operation which will operatively engage the lever 16 within a selected number of push-button actuations. The operation of all or some of the drivers in different sequences may produce the sum total movement of the arm.

Thus, the location of the arm 28 at a selected position of many degrees or parts of a degree of an arc will cause it to engage the lock lever 16 and to move its projection 18 out of the path of the locking bolt 10 for any desired purpose. If the arm 28 travels past the predetermined position, the lever 16 will be returned by its spring 22 to its locking position, and upon improper operation of the push button raising the extremity 36 of the arm 28 above the inclined portion 26 of the locking lever 16, all that is necessary in order to reset the combination mechanism in the position shown in Fig. 1 is to manually rotate the lever 16 upwardly so that its contact portion 26 is out of the path of the extremity 36 of the arm 28 and push the reset button 5 which returns the mechanism to its initial position.

In an actual installation as applied, for example, to a cash-containing drawer having a lock as represented by the bolt 10, all of the operating parts would be concealed except the push buttons 1 to 5, but the drawer may be opened by releasing the bolt which is dependent upon moving the locking lever 16 out of the path of the bolt. This is accomplished by a regular operator of the push buttons 1, 2, 3 and 4 who knows a correct combination of operations in a predetermined manner which is not disclosed to or known by an unauthorized person who may atempt to actuate the controlling arm 28. If an unauthorized person should attempt to release the bolt 10, he would not know how far to raise or move the arm 28 and might move it past the engaging point for the inclined contact point, and the arm 28 will slip past the lever 16 which would be returned by its spring 22 to its locking position.

The locking lever 16 and the operating mechanism, except the push buttons 1 to 5, not only are normally inaccessible to an operator, but also the resetting lever may be enclosed under lock and key, which is no part of the present invention in raising the lever 16 in restoring the mechanism to normal. Thus, the mechanism may be used with a cash drawer, a release for windows, doors or in any location where a safety operation by authorized persons is desirable.

The inclination of the projections 3844 and their racks 46 can be varied separately or together with relation to the arm 28. The teeth or notches in the gears or on the tracks can be selected in fineness and also the number of placements of the drivers along the arm 28 so as to move the extremity the desired part of a degree or degrees. For example, the movement of one driver in the first tooth or unit of its rack 46 may move the arm 28 through 5 of are and then movement in the remaining units of this rack will move the arm through a decreasing arc, each consecutively less than 5. The next driver will ordinarily move the arm a number of degrees less than the least number of degrees or portion of a circle traversed by the preceding driver, and similar relationships exist with the remaining drivers relative to the antecedent push buttons.

As shown, the movement of the push button 4 will actuate the arm 28 to a greater extent than the same movement of the succeeding push buttons 3, 2, and 1, and in that order.

While a preferred embodiment of this invention has been described in detail, it should be regarded as an illustration or example and not as a restriction or limitation therein as many changes may be made in the construction and arrangement of the parts without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

The invention described herein may be manufactured and used by or for the Government of the United States of America for governmental purposes without payment of any royalties thereon and therefor.

I claim:

1. In a combination lock, an arm pivoted at one end and the other end movable in a curved path, lock release means in the path of the movable end of the arm and operated thereby when the arm is in a predetermined position, cumulative means for moving the arm in the said path comprising a plurality of drivers at different distances along the arm, and means for operating each driver individually, each driver including an operating member extending at an angle from the arm and the operating means including contact means for engaging each of the operating members and moving the arm a different distance by the operation of the different operating members.

2. In a combination lock according to claim 1, a toothed wheel in connection with the said arm at its pivoted end and a pawl engaging the wheel for limiting the operating movement of the arm in one direction of movement.

3. In a combination lock according to claim 1, each driver operating means having a push key and means for returning the key to an original position after each actuation thereof.

4. In a combination lock according to claim 1, the operating means including actuating keys, similarly engaged and individually returned, for each of the operating members and means for turning the contact means to keep it in engagement with the angularly extending operating member depending upon the advancement of the arm in its path.

5. In a combination lock in accordance with claim 1, the operating means also including key-actuated mechanism for operating the contact means the same amount for each actuation of the key, and spring means for holding the contact means in engagement with each of the operating members at a different angle and thereby moving the arm a different distance at each successive actuation of the same key means.

6. In a combination lock, an arm pivoted at one end and the other end movable in a curved path, lock release means in the path of the movable end of the arm and operated thereby when the arm is in a predetermined position, cumulative means for moving the end of the arm in the said path comprising a plurality of drivers at different distances from the pivoted end of the arm, means for operating each driver individually, each driver including an operating member extending from the arm at an angle thereto, and the operating means including a movable bar carrying a pinion, a rack to engage the pinion mounted on the operating member extending from the arm, and a push-button key attached to the bar for moving the arm a predetermined distance at each actuation of the key.

7. In a combination lock in accordance with claim 6, the pinion of the operating means having a pawl to limit the rotation thereof to one direction and spring means engaging the bar tending to maintain the pinion in its driving engagement with its corresponding rack.

8. In a combination lock in accordance with claim 7, a pivotal connection between the key and the operating bar, said spring means being operable to draw the bar about the said pivotal connection to maintain the driving pinion in engagement with its rack, and spring means in connection with the key tending to return the key to the same position after each actuation thereof, the pinion engaging the rack of its operating member at a different angle after each actuation of eachtkey device.

9. In a combination lock in accordance with claim 7, a toothed wheel-and-pawl arrangement connected to the arm for supporting the arm along its predetermined path as it is advanced in one direction thereof, a release-key arrangement for operating the pawl to release the toothed wheel for a return movement of the arm and resetting mechanism also operated by the said key connection for disengaging the pinions from engagement with their corresponding racks and returning all of the operating bars and their contacting pinions to their original positions against the tension of the spring means for deflecting the operating bars.

10. In a combination lock in accordance with claim 9, the resetting mechanism including a common resetting bar connected for movement to the release key and hav- 6 ing projections to engage abutments on the said operating bars when the release key is operated.

11. In a combination lock in accordance with claim 10, spring means in connection with the release key to return it and the resetting bar to inoperative position and to return the said pawl to re-engage the wheel attached to the arm when pressure on the release key is relieved. 

